The iPhone 4 takes fantastic pictures, for a phone. With the myTouch 4G Slide, HTC’s promising the first phone since the iPhone that takes better pictures and doesn’t suck at, well, everything else.

The Slide’s got an 8-megapixel back-illuminated sensor (also found in the iPhone 4, and a ton of higher end point-and-shoots, like from Sony) and a superfast lens (for a phone anyway, at f/2.2 versus the iPhone 4′s f/2.4). That means un-sucky photos even in low-light conditions, in theory. Plus, modes like Panorama shot, HDR and a rapid-fire burst shooting let you flex your camera phone photography muscle. It also has “zero shutter lag.” The camera automatically starts buffering as soon as the photo app launches, continuing to cache in the background until you push the camera button. The camera software then records the timestamp of your press and matches it to the photo in the buffer—another feature borrowed from higher-end point-and-shoots. The question is how the photos will actually look, though, since part of the reason the iPhone 4′s outclassed most other phones is how the shots were tweaked in processing.

Besides the camera, the 4G Slide is your standard Android smartphone with a 3.7-inch WVGA display, 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, with HTC’s Sense 3.0 and T-Mobile myTouch stuff on top (though T-Mobile’s using a lighter hand this time around, pulling back on stuff it used to add to every myTouch phone). And it’s one of the few Android handsets to natively support Netflix. The keyboard is pretty solid, based on our few minutes of tapping on it. The surprising thing is how thin the phones manages to be despite the humongo keyboard, with both halves of the phone thinner than an iPhone 4.

This could be T-Mobile’s next killer phone when it launches sometime in July—we’ll see.

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I didn’t want to make this a full on comparison since both these phones are currently on the market and comparison articles and personal opinions on these two phones are now a dime a dozen.

Instead I am just going to chart the major points for each of the phones and let you decide which one you like better. Both phones have/do something a little bit better than the other, which make them very good candidates for a best of the best comparison. For example, the HTC offers 4G capabilities while the iPhone is stuck on AT&T’s 3G service, or the iPhones 30fps (frames per second) recording time over the EVO’s 25fps. Enough of my rambling, take a look at the chart and see for yourself.

I would like to hear your thoughts on which one you think is better or which one you would get.

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The HTC Evo 4G is a phone of epic proportions, offering one of the largest screens anywhere in the smartphone universe along with blazing-fast speed from it’s 1 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processor. This phone is all about being big, being fast, and most certainly, being capable of handling whatever you throw and the Android 2.1 OS. This phone could even double as a personal security weapon it’s so big and it would look good in the process. But, even with the 4G capability and the geeky goodness dripping from this phone, it has a kickstand for crying out loud, not everyone will find it so attractive. What changes or modifications would you make to the HTC Evo? 3G option for those not interested in the $10/month charge for 4G? Allow other carrier options? Speak your mind in the comments section.

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We’ve already heard plenty of talk that Acer would be rolling out one or more Android phones this year, but it looks like the company’s head of mobile phone products, Aymar de Lencquesaing, has now come out and made the clearest statement yet on the matter, saying that while Acer has “not made any formal announcement of an Android-based device,” it is “likely that we’ll have one in 2009.” No more details beyond that, unfortunately, but there has been some speculation that Acer’s first Android phone would be known as the A1, which may or may not be similar to the mysterious C1 touchscreen phone pictured above, and could land as soon as September. In related news, Acer has also reaffirmed its commitment to become one of the top five handset makers by 2012, adding that it would need to sell 20 to 25 million devices a year to meet that goal.

Via: Engadget

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iPhone OS 3.0 is coming. Set your clocks, mark your calendars. It’s going down March 17th. Apple’s calling this an “advance preview of what we’re building,” so we’re not expecting anything ready to go as of the 17th, but hopefully this will allow developers to start building toward future functionality (hey, how about some push notifications?), and presumably users won’t have too many months to wait after that for the real deal.

via: Engadget

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This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a Nokia N85 on offer.

To enter click here and leave a comment.

via: Engadget

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Take one glance at the Motorola AURA and chances are you will be reminded of the Motorola V70 in the past, a handset that broke new ground when it came to design despite being a love it-or-hate it affair. The AURA is inspired by high performance racing engines, featuring a circular display (a world’s first where mobile devices are concerned) that is able to serve up 16 million colors in 300 dpi resolution, protected by a Grade 1, 62-carat sapphire crystal lens to keep things scratch-resistant. This hand-sculpted cell phone is also equipped with Stereo Bluetooth connectivity to keep your hands on both wheels while you’re driving despite carrying out a conversation over the AURA. There is no word on pricing, but it will be out before the year is over. [Press Release]

via: Ubergizmo

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The price of an iPhone in Japan can’t get much lower than this.

Starting Friday, Softbank Mobile, the exclusive carrier of Apple’s (AAPL) smartphone in Japan, will give anyone who signs a two-year contract a free 8GB iPhone 3G. If customers prefer the 16GB model, that will cost them $118 (reduced from $350).

Writing for CrunchGear, Serkan Toto reports that SoftBank Mobile’s data plan is also being discounted from $62 to $45.60 per month for both new and existing subscribers, a move he attributes to weak iPhone sales in Japan.

Reader Kidong Yun points out that even at the reduced data rates, Japanese customers still pay nearly $150 a month for iPhone service, roughly double what users pay in the United States.]

The promotion is scheduled to end in May. It follows a data plan price cut in August — less than a month after the iPhone’s Japanese debut.

To get a feel for how the iPhone is perceived in Japan, we re-post them below the fold:

1. No One-Seg digital TV tuner
2. No Felica (e-wallet) function
3. Weak camera
4. Only one panel color available
5. Display of cute emoticons, emoji, is difficult
6. Japanese cell phone contracts are long-term (2 years standard, almost no pre-paid) and expensive to terminate
6. A lot of Japanese already own an iPod Touch (launched in October 2007)
7. Japanese women with long fingernails will not buy it (and there are a lot of them)
8. High-school kids use cell phones mainly for emails using one thumb, a dialpad and a jog dial (ideal for Japanese character input)
9. Softbank will probably charge a lot of Yen for the handset itself, accessories, data plans etc.
10. Japan is the toughest cell phone market in the world
(high level of technical sophistication, critical customers, high innovation rate etc. )

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LG finally made the Arena KM 900 official at the Mobile World Congress. Touted as a multimedia device with an “exhilarating audio and video experience.” The phone comes with LG’s new 3D S-Class UI – the usability of which remains to be seen once we have the device in hand. The phone also features a 3-inch WVGA (800*400) touchscreen, 8GB internal storage (expandable to 40GB), a 5-megapixel camera, and a 1000mAh battery for power. The device is all set to be launched in Europe next month.

via: Techtree

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Verizon Wireless has picked Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) as its main contractors in its planned deployment of its forthcoming 4G network, aka “Long Term Evolution.”

LTE, reputed to be so fast that users can download a song in just seconds, is considered the next industry benchmark for carriers to meet. Verizon’s project — which it outlined at the industry trade show GSMA Mobile World Congress, currently ongoing in Barcelona, Spain — is the largest LTE commitment to date.

Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson will build the underlying infrastructure for delivery in 2010 — making Verizon Wireless the first wireless company to offer commercial LTE-based service in the United States, assuming it meets the deadline.

Also participating is Nokia Siemens Networks, which, along with Alcatel-Lucent, will be a supplier for the IP Multi-Media Subsystem (IMS) network. This technology enables multimedia applications regardless of access. It will play a key role in Verizon’s services infrastructure when it offers converged applications and services on its wireless and landline broadband networks.

During the past year, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) have been using existing spectrum to field-test LTE networks in Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Northern New Jersey; Budapest, Hungary; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Madrid. The field trials yieled download rates of 50 Mbps to 60 Mbps peak speeds, though Verizon noted that actual average download results will not be determined until the commercial launch of the new Verizon Wireless LTE network.

Besides faster internet access, LTE should deliver better-quality video services and easier-to-use mobile applications. For instance, a wide-area wireless LTE network should be able to connect consumer electronics devices and machines to each other.

Verizon is planning to deploy the LTE network beyond its current coverage areas, so service in some rural areas not currently served by wireless broadband is also possible.

Read more >>

via: technewsworld

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